Existing Arabic-language keyboard layouts have been designed without studying the impact of the current arrangement of the characters on the users' behavior while typing. Those layouts cause adverse effects because they distribute total typing loads in an irregular manner in terms of more excessive and disproportionate stress on the fingers. In other words, current Arabic-language keyboard layouts have a profound negative impact on the efficiency of a typist. For example, existing ill-designed Arabic-language keyboards place a disproportionately high load on the weaker fingers of the typist's hand. These designs lead to typing fatigue and even musculoskeletal injuries in the long term.
Currently, there are three major Arabic-language keyboard layouts. FIG. 1 shows prior art conventional Arabic typewriter keyboard layout 100. This keyboard layout first appears on the first Arabic typewriters made by Philip Wakid and Saleem Haddad in 1914. FIG. 2 shows prior art IBM® PC Arabic keyboard layout 200. This layout was derived from the layout used in Arabic electric or mechanical typewriters, such as shown in FIG. 1. The Unicode version of this keyboard was developed by IBM® and/or MICROSOFT®. This keyboard layout was primarily adopted to address mechanical typewriter key-sticking problems and is an intuitive-based design that does not promote learning to type.
FIG. 3 shows prior art APPLE® Arabic keyboard layout 300. This MAC® Arabic keyboard layout was developed by APPLE® to ease Arabic typing for those who are already familiar with an English keyboard layout. However the APPLE® keyboard layout is not optimized to increase the typing speed and does not promote learning to type.
FIG. 4 shows prior art Sakhr/MSX Arabic keyboard layout 400. The Sakhr Company developed this layout. This keyboard layout is not popular in mainstream use, and it is not optimized for typing characteristics such as “modifier over-head” (i.e., shift key) use, alteration of hands or fingers, and key strike direction.